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I'm sure she only spoke to them after checking with Andy,or if not Andy himself then with his ok through his people-she'd have to know there's no way she could keep a client's trust if she went around talking about them without permission,or spouting off at the mouth to the media!I'd say though,that with how many news articles that were immediately written about it after Andy revealed he'd been seeing her,given how much interest in it something had to be said to calm the fray,if you know what I mean!

Andy Murray thrashes Roger Federer to set up Shanghai Masters final against Novak Djokovic

Centre court at Qizhong Arena seems to represent Andy Murray’s idea of nirvana. After 12 matches at the Shanghai Masters, Murray has never yet been beaten, and he came through his semi-final with such comfort that it was hard to believe he had just seen off the great Roger Federer.

But Murray’s work here is far from done. Having beaten the reigning world No. 1, he must prepare for tSunday’s final against resurgent Novak Djokovic – who stands at No 2, and looked in equally slick form as he disposed of Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-4.

It may be played far away from tennis’s traditional strongholds, but this morning’s match is likely to capture the imagination of the sporting world, for it represents an encore of last month’s breathtaking US Open final between Murray and Djokovic. As Rafael Nadal continues to rest his wonky right knee, it feels as if the balance of power is shifting from the elder two members of the “Big Four” to the younger pair.

That was certainly the message from the semi-final, in which Federer looked hunted and harried from the very first point. As soon as Murray arrived on court, he started feasting on the great man’s second serve, which has usually been one of his chief strengths.The pressure was so intense that Federer strained for more pace and sharper angles, and in the fifth game of the match we saw a true collector’s item: three consecutive double-faults. Murray thus earned a break with just a single touch of the ball. (He had already set up 0-15 with one of many searing service returns.)

Murray held on to his advantage to take that first set 6-4, and then there was a peculiar interlude at the start of the second when Federer suggested that there were spots of rain in the air, and the match should be halted. Had he been cruising through his service games in his normal imperious manner, he might barely have noticed a few tiny drops of water on the court. But this was an uncomfortable match for him, so perhaps he was sensitive to small distractions.

The debate came midway through a 19-minute game, which featured seven break points for Murray, and one quite bewilderingly brilliant rally in which Federer somehow fought his way back from the brink with three successive strokes of genius: a pinpoint lob, a forehand attack down the line, and an angled drop volley that dropped just inside the court.

But while Federer would occasionally produce one of the inspired moments that are his trademark, too many of the bread-and-butter points were going to Murray. Federer was getting drawn into a lot of backhand-to-backhand cross court rallies, which Murray invariably won. And then there were the many second serves that were smacked back even faster than they travelled. As Murray settled into his return stance, he had that eager expression you see in a batsman who is hitting every ball for six.

The rain returned, more seriously this time, as Murray was about to serve for the match at 5-4 up. The roof of the Qizhong Arena had to be closed, which necessitated a 36-minute delay. But it never felt as if the hold-up was likely to change the momentum of the match: Murray had been too dominant for that. As soon as the players came back on court, he played out a straightforward game to hold to 15. Federer sliced a return into the net to complete a below-par performance in which he never really got to grips with Murray’s serve.

Federer’s watching coach Paul Annacone may have some work to do as the players move forward into the indoor season, but at least that is Federer’s strongest suit. He is defending titles in Basle, Paris and at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, and after the way he took Murray apart once the roof came over in the Wimbledon final this summer, he will feel he can regroup from this.

As for Djokovic, he has only lost once – to Murray in New York – in 16 hard-court matches since the Olympics. He is in the serving form of his life, nailing 75 per cent of his first serves yesterday, and accumulating 26 aces so far in the tournament. Today’s final should produce some more spectacular tennis.

I'm sure she only spoke to them after checking with Andy,or if not Andy himself then with his ok through his people-she'd have to know there's no way she could keep a client's trust if she went around talking about them without permission,or spouting off at the mouth to the media!I'd say though,that with how many news articles that were immediately written about it after Andy revealed he'd been seeing her,given how much interest in it something had to be said to calm the fray,if you know what I mean!

Completely agree with you too Elly-well done to Andy!

while I very much like what she says - particularly about bringing the joy and zest back into Andy's game - it did worry me that she was talking to the media about him. So I do hope you're right that she has checked it out first. I'm sure she will have done because otherwise it's the kiss of death for any ongoing relationship between therapist and 'patient'.And thanks for the D Tel report which enjoyed though I'm not sure they're right about smugfed regrouping - at least against Andy. It feels to me like there has been a fundamental shift in the balance of power between them. I hope I'm right especially if they get to play each other at 02.

I thought the same Ruthie.But I really think she must have gotten the ok from Andy & his people-otherwise there's no way she could expect him to trust her again,and that's a HUGE part of the relationship between therapist and patient.You don't even have to be a good therapist,or have been doing it a long time to know that (Heck,I'm not one and it seems obvious to me!)-and she seems to have been in business a long time,and she has to be at least somewhat good,or there's no way Andy would have worked with her-sure,he might have gone along and tried it out,talking with her,on Lendl's recommendation,but he wouldn't have kept working with and trusting her if he felt she was no good.So until we hear otherwise,I'm going with the theory that she spoke with the Team Murray blessing!

No prob about the Telegraph report-I thoroughly enjoyed the headline,and the bits where they praised Andy.I don't think I'll ever get tired of reading nice things written about him-especially since for such a long time he wasn't getting anywhere near his due!I'm very much hoping the same thing,about the shift in power-in fact you put it into words perfectly!Bring on the WTF!

Guys,I know I've already posted an article on the match,but it's so rare that the DM takes Andy's side over Federer,and even rarer that any paper actually calls Smugfed out on his crap,that I felt this deserved posting :

Murray blows apart Federer mind games to set up Shanghai final with Djokovic

Andy Murray defied an act of blatant gamesmanship from world No 1 Roger Federer in China on Saturday to claim an appointment in the final of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday morning with Novak Djokovic, in a rematch of his US Open triumph.

Effectively, Federer stopped play. But his attempt to play mind games with Murray, a man who gets under his skin, ultimately failed.

For the British No 1 dealt admirably with an unexpected delay at the start of the second set, when Federer insisted a few spots of rain had made the court dangerous.

Murray's 6-4, 6-4 victory over Federer means he has now won his last five sets of tennis against the world No 1, having dismantled his game to win the Olympic gold medal on the Centre Court at Wimbledon in the summer.

Of course, Federer had just three weeks earlier broken Murray's heart when he came from a set behind to win the Wimbledon title after the roof had to be shut on Centre Court.

Perhaps that memory was at the forefront of his mind in Shanghai as Federer struggled, as he had done in the Olympic final, to come to terms with Murray's aggressive style of tennis.

With the first set lost, Federer demanded umpire Ali Nili halt their semi-final after sighting a few spots of rain in the opening game of the second set.

'I don't think it's worth taking any chances,' argued Federer, as he presented the flimsiest of evidence for a suspension of the match when ATP supervisor Tom Barnes appeared on the court to adjudicate.

Federer's real problem was Murray. The world No 1 had just saved a sixth break point in the opening service game of the second set and the perception was that he wanted to break the rhythm of a match getting away from him when he entered his plea to interrupt play.

He advocated a delay and made it plain he would like the roof over the $200million stadium to be closed.

At all times, Federer was polite and calm; but the longer he kept the dialogue alive with Nili, the more chance he felt he had in breaking Murray's spell over him. Murray was visibly displeased.

'Is there rain forecast?' he asked Barnes. 'Are we going to keep playing while the roof is closing?'

Federer just sat in his chair waiting for the roof to be mechanically driven into action.

He was at liberty to state his case and his status as the most successful player in history, with 17 Grand Slam titles, gave him an entitlement unlikely to be afforded to others.

Eventually, play resumed without the roof being shut but Federer had manufactured a delay of more than six minutes. He held his service game but, with poetic justice, Federer fell a break down when he was broken in the fifth game.

It began to rain seriously just before Murray had a chance to serve for the match, at 5-4, but this second suspension of 29 minutes failed to break Murray's concentration and he finished off Federer with minimal fuss.

While Federer's rivalry with Rafael Nadal has always been conducted with the utmost sportsmanship, the 31-year-old Swiss has never had the same rapport with Murray.

Even though Federer has a losing record against the Scot, he is always swift to point out that he has won the matches that matter most; in the US Open final, twice, the Australian Open and the Wimbledon final.

But Murray's triumph in the Olympic final and his historic win over Djokovic in the US Open final, bringing to an end a 76-year search to find a successor to Fred Perry, could have tilted the power in his favour.

It definitely looked like that on Saturday.

'When you are beating probably the best player of all time, it's obviously going to be special,' said Murray last night.

'I went for it, like I did the past few times I played against him, and it worked tonight.'

Federer, clearly, felt he had been engaged in a different match to the one witnessed by the 15,000 in the stadium.

'Overall, Andy was just the better player and he deserved to win at the end really,' he said.

In reality, Federer came close to losing his renowned cool on more than one occasion and the extent to which Murray now pressurises him could be gauged by the fact that he served three doubles faults in a row in the first set.

Djokovic will today present a greater threat to Murray, who won an epic five-set contest between them in New York last month. 'I don't like the word "revenge",' said Djokovic.'I just play tennis and I try to win every match I play.'

So does Murray, regardless of the circumstances he finds himself in these days ... as Federer discovered.

Guys,I know I've already posted an article on the match,but it's so rare that the DM takes Andy's side over Federer,and even rarer that any paper actually calls Smugfed out on his crap,that I felt this deserved posting :

Murray blows apart Federer mind games to set up Shanghai final with Djokovic

Andy Murray defied an act of blatant gamesmanship from world No 1 Roger Federer in China on Saturday to claim an appointment in the final of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday morning with Novak Djokovic, in a rematch of his US Open triumph.

Djokovic will today present a greater threat to Murray, who won an epic five-set contest between them in New York last month. 'I don't like the word "revenge",' said Djokovic.'I just play tennis and I try to win every match I play.'

So does Murray, regardless of the circumstances he finds himself in these days ... as Federer discovered.

Didn't want to requote the whole article but thanks for posting dani (and everyone else). I don't think you can post too many articles on here! It's great to see the Daily Mail both changing its tune on Andy (I've noticed this since Wimbledon) and acknowledging the gamesmanship Federer employs at times. Nice article.

It's funny, I just came on here to post an unusally glowing report from Sky and I saw the DM article. Very praising. Strange. Are the writers coming round to Andy? I imagine many of the comments are the usual crap.

Andy Murray produced a dominant performance over Roger Federer to power into a Shanghai Masters final against Novak Djokovic following a comfortable 6-4 6-4 victory.

Federer simply had no answer to Murray's power and variety and it was a relatively simple task for the Olympic champion to set up a US Open final re-match with old foe Djokovic on Sunday.

Murray showed a lot more belief than he has done in the past against Federer, as he consistently went for big winners and the quality and power of his groundstrokes had his opponent scrambling around the baseline.

Returns of serve were also huge for Murray, and Federer visibly looked at odds with himself on court with double faults and unforced errors creeping up on far more occasions than we are used to - with him seemingly having no answers to the new aggressive Murray.

British number one Murray came flying out of the blocks in the first set by breaking Federer in the very first game, but the Swiss star replied in kind to break in the next as it quickly became clear they were both ready to become embroiled in a slugfest.

Federer had to win from deuce in the third game, but he could not get a foothold in the fifth as Murray broke to love before serving out the set to win 6-4 in 43 minutes.

The first game of the second set proved to be an absolute classic, with Murray firing away in cavalier fashion and Federer being forced to scramble for his life to fend off six break points.

It was then that the 17-time grand slam winner spotted a few drops of rain on the court and quickly called a halt to proceedings despite the urgings of both Murray and the umpire.

It was only a six-minute break but it was enough to get a second wind and, after an epic rally to save a seventh break point, Federer finally managed to hold, but he was still looking as uncomfortable as he's ever been on a tennis court.

Again it was in the fifth game of a set that Murray produced his best tennis, with two thundering winners forcing deuce and a stunning forehand return clinching the break - at the eighth time of asking in the set.

Just as Murray was about to serve for the match, the rain again started to fall, this time seriously, so the roof of the stadium in Shanghai was eventually closed but he made no mistake with a swift service game after the resumption to cruise into the final.